Big Brother 21 (US)
|image = |version = United States |host = Julie Chen-Moonves |season = 21 |prizemoney = $500,000 |numberofhouseguests = 16 |numberofdays = 99 |winner = Jackson Michie |runnersup = Holly Allen |network = CBS CBS All Access (live feeds) Pop (BBAD) |executiveproducer = Allison Grodner Rich Meehan |challengeproducer = Heath Luman |casting = Robyn Kass |announcers = Don Wollman Clayton Halsey |productioncompany = |seasonrun = June 25, 2019 - September 25, 2019 |filmingrun = June 19, 2019 - September 25, 2019 |numberofepisodes = 40 |viewership = 4.27m |companionshows = Big Brother: After Dark |castphoto = |video = |previousseason = Big Brother 20 (US) |nextseason = Big Brother 22 (US) }} is the 21st season of the broadcast edition of Big Brother (U.S.). Background Development CBS announced that Big Brother had been renewed for a twenty-first and twenty-second season on May 15, 2019. CBS later announced on May 20, that the twenty-first season was set to premiere on June 25, 2019. Unnamed insiders close to the production of the show previously cast doubt if Julie Chen would return to host following sexual misconduct allegations against her husband Les Moonves. Chen Moonves however, returned for Celebrity Big Brother 2 (US) and it was later announced that Julie Chen Moonves would return to season 21. Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan to return as executive producers for the series which is produced by Fly on the Wall Entertainment, in association with Endemol Shine North America. Casting Despite not having an official renewal announcement from CBS at the time, casting for the season was open until April 2019. Kassting, Inc. returned to provide casting services for a twentieth consecutive season since season 2 with Robyn Kass serving as the casting director. It was then announced by former season 11 & season 13 contestant, Jeff Schroeder that the houseguests would officially be introduced on June 17 at 11 AM ET/8 AM PT on the live feeds, after they were released an hour earlier. Cast Relationships Moments after the cast was revealed, it was noticed by fans that many of the new houseguests have a relationship with one another. Christie Murphy used to date Tommy Bracco's aunt and is tagged in many of each other's Instagram photos. It was revealed by Rob Has a Podcast Life Feed Correspondent, Brent Wolgamott that Holly Allen and Kathryn Dunn were friends and knew that they would be cast together for weeks prior to sequester. Air Schedule The season features an initial time slot change from previous seasons; new episodes are set to air on a Sunday/Tuesday/Wednesday schedule through the first six episodes before returning to a traditional Sunday/Wednesday/Thursday schedule as in previous seasons. The 24/7 internet live feeds are also expected to return with a CBS All Access subscription following the two-night season premiere on June 26. In addition, Big Brother: After Dark is expected to return on Pop also following the two-night premiere on June 26 or June 27, depending on viewers local time zones. House Reveal As with previous seasons, the program is filmed at CBS Studios, sound stage 18 in a custom-built two story house. The House is equipped with 94 high-definition cameras and over 113 microphones in order to monitor and record the houseguests. The living room, three bedrooms, kitchen, dining room, bathroom, and lounge room are located on the first floor. The Head of Household bedroom and bathroom, and an additional lounge area known as the "Sky Bridge" are located on the second floor. The second floor is accessible by a ladder located in the entry way or a spiral staircase located in the kitchen next to the sliding glass doors that lead to the backyard. The backyard area features outdoor amenities for the houseguests. Entertainment Tonight showed the first look at the house with Kevin Frazier during their episode on the night of June 20, 2019. Entertainment Tonight then released a sneak peek of the house through a brief tour on their website on June 21. Meanwhile, a full house tour with the host, Julie Chen, and other photos were released through the show's social media outlets. The house theme matched the season's overall theme and received a camp theme; Production Designer Scott Storey designed the house's features. The living room features a birch-wood coffee table and a large and a 23-foot triangular window illuminated by LED lights. The first bedroom features a "sleeping under the stars" theme and includes two double-beds and the exterior of a camper. The camper, is only a facade into the second bedroom which features three double-beds and is assumed to be that of a camp counselor's bedroom. The third and final downstairs bedroom is a sports-themed bedroom primarily based from archery. In the kitchen many of the appliances have been redone in an attempted to blend them in with the rest of the theme, an electronic camp fire has been added to the center of formal dining table. The downstairs lounge area received a boat theme while the bathroom received a boat house like theme. The upstairs lounge area, for the first time in the series history is also accessible by a ladder from the entry way, has been updated to resemble a tree house; the Head of Household bedroom and bathroom have been changed to resemble a Moroccan-style bedroom. The backyard features a pool with kayak's and an attached hot tub, lawn chairs surround the back yard which also features a pool table and a washer and dryer, workout equipment, outdoor lounge areas, a hammock, and a mini-fridge. House Pictures BB21_House_1.jpg|Living Room BB21_House_2.jpg|Dining Room BB21_House_3.jpg|Kitchen BB21_House_4.jpg|Bedroom 1 BB21_House_5.jpg|Bedroom 2 BB21_House_6.jpg|Bedroom 3 BB21_House_7.jpg|Downstairs Lounge BB21_House_8.jpg|Bathroom BB21_House_9.jpg|HOH Room BB21_House_10.jpg|Upstairs Lounge BB21_House_11.jpg|Pool Area BB21 House 12.jpg|Foyer Multiplatform Coverage In the pattern of the past few seasons, this season will have coverage among multiple platforms. Twists *'Pre-Existing Relationships:' Among the sixteen houseguests, there are various that had known each other each before entering the house. The show acknowledged that Christie Murphy was in a previous relationship with Tommy Bracco's aunt during the premiere. However, it was discovered online that Holly Allen and Kathryn Dunn had been friends for years, and are Facebook friends. The show did not acknowledge the relationship between Holly & Kathryn until Episode 14, the eviction episode for Week 4. *'Camp Director:' On Night One, the houseguests had to elect a "Camp Director" to rule over the house. The winner would have the power to banish four houseguests to the Hit The Road competition where the loser would be evicted from the house. *'Hit The Road:' The four banished houseguests from the Camp Director would be secluded to the backyard where they would have to battle to survive in order to stay in the house. *'Whacktivity Competition:' Every week for the first three weeks, five houseguests would competed in a camp-themed competition in order to win a secret power. The winner would be awarded in private and be given a secret power. Due to Camp Comeback, any player who wins a Whacktivity Power and then gets evicted is allowed to regain the power if they return to the game. **'Nightmare Power:' After the Head of Household makes their nominations, the winner would be able to activate the power to nullify the nominations and wake everyone up in the middle of the night and force the Head of Household to name two new nominees on the spot. This power lasts for the first six nomination ceremonies. **'Chaos Power:' After the players have been drawn for the Power of Veto competition, if the winner is not satisfied with the player selection, they would be able to force the HoH and the two nominees to redraw the players. This power lasts until the Final Six. **'Panic Power:' Before the PoV Meeting, the winner may anonymously grant that week's PoV winner the Diamond Power of Veto. They have the following four Veto Meetings to activate the power. ***'Diamond Power of Veto:' If granted the DPoV by the Panic Power winner, the Veto Holder has the ability to name the replacement nominee if they choose to save an initial nominee, taking that power away from the HoH. *'Camp Comeback/Previously Evicted Contestant:' Starting after the second eviction, the evicted houseguest, along with the returning banished houseguest from the Hit The Road competition, would continue to live in the house. The evictees would be able to participate in the social game. They will not be able to participate in competitions and ceremonies, they will be secluded to the Camp Comeback Cabin. The twist will end after the fourth eviction. The first four evictees would battle in a Comeback Competition, where the winner returns to the main game, while the other three go home for good. **'No Have-Nots:' Due to the Camp Comeback twist causing the evicted houseguests to sleep in a room with Have-Not style living conditions, there were no formal Have-Nots for the first three weeks, meaning they were still allowed to eat real food and take warm showers. Once the Comeback twist ended in Week 4, Have-Nots came into play and the Camp Comeback Cabin became the Have-Not Room for the rest of the season. *'America's Field Trip:' During Week 6, America will vote to send three houseguests on a "Field Trip". The rules are very similar to the Temptation Competition from Big Brother 19 (US). The three houseguests who receive the most votes will face off in a competition in Week 7, where the winner gets immunity, the runner-up gets a punishment, and the loser becomes the 3rd nominee. *'America's Prankster:' As an addition to Prank Week, America will vote to give one houseguest the power of "America's Prankster", granting them the ability to secretly control one nominee during the week. The Prankster will overtake one of the HoH's nominations in a combination of the Co-HoH and Hacker Competition twists from Big Brother 18 (US) and Big Brother 20 (US). If the PoV is used on the Prankster Nominee, the Prankster will secretly name the replacement. Prank Week Prank Week took place from the end of Week 8 throughout all of Week 9, the houseguests will face a series of pranks played on them by both production and America. *'BB Birdwatching Audio Tour:' On Night 64, before the eviction of Week 8, the houseguests were told to listen to the announcements playing different bird sounds and what names are associated to the sounds, as a form of studying for the upcoming HOH quiz competition. However, on Day 65, Julie revealed that none of those sounds had anything to do with the HOH competition, as the start of Prank Week. The real competition was "Prank Shot", a skill competition. *'Pie Punishment:' The two houseguests who scored the lowest amount of points in the HoH competition would be given a punishment where they would have to make pies and either pie themselves, each other, or another houseguest at any time they are signaled to do so, including in the middle of the night. However, since two houseguests tied for second-lowest amount of points, the punishment was upped to three. *'Opening Sequence:' The intro narration and segue into the opening credits was filled with pranks and clips from Big Brother 20 (US). *'Slimy Veto Draw:' When the HoH and the two nominees place their hands into the box to select a chip during the Veto Draw, they will be sticking their hands into a vat of slime. *'Zingbot Competition:' Big Brother's resident prankster, The Zingbot, will make his annual reappearance during Prank Week. *'Clown Sightings:' Big Brother would constantly display projections of scary killer clowns throughout the one way mirrors within the house. Houseguests Voting History Whacktivity Competition History Have/Have-Not History Game History Controversies Premiere Night Racism Following the two-night season premiere viewers accused houseguest Jackson Michie of discriminating against race and age. Jackson received the Camp Director power and was required to choose four houseguests to banish. Jackson chose to banish included the seasons only two African American contestants, the Hispanic-American plus size model, along with the oldest person in the house. Viewers then questioned the series for the Head of Household competition which occurred the same night and was named "Color War." Jack Matthew's Comments Once the 24/7 live feeds began some viewers began calling for CBS to remove HouseGuest Jack Matthews from the series. Matthews was seen on the live feeds making vicious and violent remarks about Kemi Fakunle, behind her back. About Fakunle, Matthews said that she is "fucking poison"; ahead of the Power of Veto competition he stated "B*tch, you're fucking going up and you can play your f*ckin' veto, but I'm gonna f*ck you up!" Most notably Matthews stated "F*cking Kemi makes me want to f*cking stomp a mud hole right through her chest." Aside from this Matthews was also seen making other derogatory comments against other contestants including Ovi Kabir who he called a "brown flame" and Jessica Milagros who he called a "maggot." A Change.org petition was started in an attempt to get Matthews removed from the game for Fakunle's and others safety. Matthews was warned by production about comments made and to prevent further such comments. Meanwhile other live feed viewers state that the CBS disclaimer has appeared more since the incident. Weeks later during Week 4, Jack would make additional comments about Asian-American houseguest Isabella Wang. He was in a hammock with the members of the Six Shooters alliance, he then proceeded to make a joke about rice pudding. At that point, that would have been the second time he made a "rice pudding" joke that week. Following Matthews' eviction Week 6, host Julie Chen-Moonves asked him about his comments, in which Matthews denied all allegations of racism. Treatment of David Alexander On the evening of July 4, Jack and Jackson were in the kitchen discussing the piling up of dishes in the sink in order to upset David Alexander, an African American houseguest, after he returned to the house days earlier. Jack and Jackson repeatedly said "He’s a n*****" when discussing David. The conversation further escalated when one stated, “I’m gonna f*** with n****** bro”. However, it is unknown who exactly stated it due to poor audio quality. Just earlier, Jackson alongside Kathryn Dunn were talking about David in the Head of Household room where he stated that David should “Go back to Mexico" after Kathryn called him a snake. He would later on state that he would like to “mule kick him David in the teeth." He would go on to receiving a warning from the Diary Room, which led him to concerning about how it was being perceived in the outside world. Treatment of Nicole Anthony There has also been a significant amount of backlash towards HouseGuest Isabella Wang and the Gr8ful alliance for bullying fellow HouseGuest Nicole Anthony, which was shown during Episode 10. Wang has been accused of targeting and bullying Anthony because of things that she told Wang about their alliance wanting to nominate her and fellow HouseGuest Nick Maccarone for eviction, which the alliance falsely denied. Multiple fans of the show have condemned this behavior and dubbed the Gr8ful alliance the "H8ful" alliance which the narrator of the show alluded to during the episode. Jackson As Have-Not At the beginning of week four Cliff Hogg, as the Head of Household, was required to name four houseguests to become have-nots for the week. Have-nots are required to take cold showers, eat only slop, and sleep in less than ideal beds during the week. Along with three others Hogg named Jackson Michie to become a have-not. Despite being named as a have-not Michie was seen on the 24/7 live feeds breaking the have-not rules by stuffing his pockets full of food and eating it behind the shower wall out of camera view. Michie received no punishment normally given to houseguests who break the have-not rules. In past seasons of Big Brother houseguests have received eviction votes or other penalties for breaking the have-not rules. Viewers of the series took to social media calling for Big Brother to enforce rules as done in the past by punishing Michie and not give special treatment. After the end of week five, the have-not phase ended for the season, likely in response to the controversy surrounded Jackson, and an attempt to prevent anymore violations. Producer Reprimanded At the 2019 Television Critics Association CBS executives were questioned about diversity and racism issues on Big Brother as well as fellow CBS television series . In an open interview with CBS executives, Big Brother was accused of giving "contestants of color unfair cuts or early eliminations" as well as editing out comments by contestants that have been interpreted as racist. CBS executives defended editors of the show stating that it's difficult to edit days worth of content into forty-minutes. Speaking on a similar but separate incident one press member specifically asked about situation of Kemi Fakunle, who after being evicted claimed series producers tried to goad her into playing the part of a "sassy black woman." It was later revealed by the Big Brother Wiki that it was Supervising Producer Christine Owen, after reports of Kemi stating that the producer she referred to as Christine. CBS Executive Tom Sherman stated, "Well, in the case of Big Brother, a producer—we learned that a producer, in an attempt to get a soundbite from one of the houseguests overstepped. That producer was reprimanded, received unconscious bias training—as did all the producers on the show—and we don’t believe that an incident like that will happen again."| The CBS executives in question responded by stating that they investigated the situation, found the producer in question overstepped, reprimanded the said producer, and as a result trained all of their producers. Finally, CBS executives also stated that they would "closely reexamine Big Brother 21 and see if we can do better next year." PETA Week 5 Sheep Cruelty The use of animals in the week five Power of Veto competition sparked criticism from viewers and national organizations accusing CBS and Big Brother of animal cruelty. In the competitions sheep had been dressed with random numbers and competing HouseGuests were required to wrangle sheep into enclosed pins to add up to a pre-defined given number. PETA, also known as the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, spoke out against CBS and Big Brother on social media stating that "Animals are not entertainment," "Animals are not yours to abuse," and calling for them to commit to not using live animals again. Additionally, viewers also took to social media calling for similar requests and speaking out against the show's current and past use of animals as well, most notably the use of snakes and cockroaches in other competitions earlier in the season. Julie Chen Gypsy Slur During Jack Matthews' eviction interview, aired on episode 20, host Julie Chen Moonves said a racial slur in saying, “We didn’t gyp you out of goodbye videos.” The word gyp and gypped are considered racial slurs to Gypsies. Some fans of the show commented on the situational irony when Chen Moonves was interviewing Matthews on many derogatory actions he made, but then proceeded to make a racial slur. However, many fans did not know it was a racial slur until complaints were made on social media. Finale Night Callouts On the live finale night, while the Final Two were being questioned by the Jury, Juror Tommy Bracco called out eventual winner Jackson Michie for being sexist and treating women harshly. During the Jury Roundtable hosted by Big Brother 2 (US) winner Will Kirby, Tommy had also mentioned that Jackson had specifically been degrading towards Kathryn Dunn and Christie Murphy. After the votes had been cast, host Julie Chen Moonves opened up the floor for the pre-jurors, specifically Ovi Kabir, Kemi Fakunle, David Alexander and Isabella Wang to speak on all of the controversy that had struck. Ovi had called out the aforementioned bullying of Nicole Anthony done on by the Gr8ful/Unde9able alliance. Kemi called out Christie, Nick Maccarone, Jack Matthews and Jackson on their obsession and constant bashing towards her, even after her eviction. After being led into by Julie, David had spoke on Jackson's actions on Day 1 as the Camp Director. And Isabella was able to confront Nick for cheating on her with Kathryn while they were in the Jury House and "making her look stupid", something that he promised her he would not do. After Jackson had been crowned the winner in a vote of 6-3, his reaction was not as exciting was one would expect, with fans dubbing it "the most somber winner reveal in Big Brother history", with some suggesting that he could not truly enjoy his victory due to being called sexist and racist just moments prior to winning. Trivia *With their 21st season, the Big Brother U.S. English speaking edition will be the first country to air 21 civilian seasons of the show. *This season is tied with Big Brother 14 for the most amount of consecutive HoHs to also win the PoV with three. **This was accomplished by Jessica, Tommy, and Jackson during weeks 6, 7, and 8 respectively. *This season has the shortest Have-Not Phase, with it only lasting for two weeks. Ratings United States Live Ratings DVR Ratings Canada References External Links * CBS Official Site * [https://poptv.com/bigbrotherafterdark Pop TV - Big Brother After Dark] * Live Feeds - Requires CBS All-Access Subscription * Wikipedia Page Category:Seasons Category:United States (English) Seasons Category:Seasons with Evicted Contestants Returning